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Monday, March 4, 2013

Studying the publishing industry aspects of paper also allows us to learn more about commercial paper, itself, --- an interesting little journey for those who take paper for granted and may not understand it fully. This will also shed light on why the physicality of a printed book is so much more intense than its digital, virtual brother.

What would we do without paper? Think of all the things we use paper for --- from writing to making money of, all the way to ass-wipe and thousands of things in-between --- not to mention the millions of things that paper is an integral part of.

Well, the publishing industry uses its fair share of paper and with the big move to digital has caused wild swings in paper prices the last few years.

But, according to inside analysts, good news may be breaking for the paper people.

Paper Industry Begins to StabilizeThings are beginning to stabilize after years of wild swings
It’s no secret that the paper industry has suffered through volatility as digital mediums wrest readers from print. The aggregate effects of publishers slashing pages and mills shutting down swung prices wildly over the past several years on yet another front of the battle between digital and print.

The market may be stabilizing though as paper mills adjust and page counts slow their decline.

For Terry Choate, president of Making Magazines, static pricing has been a function of the paper mill industry’s ability to manage their own supply.

“The paper mills have done a better job downsizing recently,” he says. “[They’re at] the point where their capacity is pretty much in line with demand.”

The other side of the pricing equation—demand for paper—has stayed relatively flat or declined slightly as of late, Choate says.

Ad pages, a generally reliable indicator of overall page counts, declined 8.3 percent for the industry as a whole in 2012, according to PIB. The numbers stabilized through the fourth quarter however, ending with a 7.3-percent reduction year-over-year.

The gradual stabilization of the paper mill industry, page counts, and therefore pricing, played out in last year’s fall increases. The 2012 catalog season saw a roughly $3/CWT bump across the board—a standard hike Choate says—but those prices have yet to come back down.

“It stuck,” he says. “Prices haven’t decreased since that [fall] increase. And that has to do with that consolidation of paper mills and bringing capacity in line with demand.”

Marie Myers, senior vice president of manufacturing at UBM, agrees. She’s seen the same prices holding in the market, as well.

“They haven’t really shifted one way or the other,” she says. “They’re holding.” The future is a little less certain though.

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About Me

John R. Austin is from the land of Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. He was born in Key West, Florida on 18 August 1942 and subsequently grew up on this tropical, Southernmost U.S. Island. Being born in a cradle of literary genius just had to endow John with an inkling of talent, right? We shall see…

John is now retired, retarded and laid back...Writing when the urge strikes!

He is currently writing Havana Harvest…When Cuba Was Naughty! a coming-of-age novel based on the author’s own experience.

John attended Saint Joseph’s elementary/middle School and Mary Immaculate High School in Key West and graduated with honors. John went on and graduated from the University of Florida in 1965 with an Architectural Degree in Building Construction and later, while on active duty with the U.S. Air Force Engineers, received a Master of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Central Missouri State University.

John wrote his master’s thesis titled: “A Methods Analysis of the Air Force Engineering Management System of Total Programming” and achieved limited publication within the Air Force engineering community for instructional purposes. In high school he wrote and delivered a state-level, award-winning, American Legion-sponsored speech titled The Constitution---Ours to Defend.

John has lived in the countries of China (Taiwan), Germany, Portugal and South Korea. He has lived in the United States in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and Wisconsin.

Living and interacting with individuals in various foreign countries with diverse cultures and customs and ten different states with different attitudes and outlooks has equipped John with a uniquely incisive and worldly understanding of human nature.

Besides HavanaHarvest…When Cuba Was Naughty! John is also structuring two other stories based on his life adventures and travels: Alaskan Cherokee and Taiwan Tango.